All articles tagged with #pinnipeds
Photographer Jeroen Hoekendijk has documented the seals and walruses of the Frisian Islands over ten years, highlighting their beauty and the environmental threats they face due to climate change, as these islands are remnants of ancient Doggerland and serve as indicators of rising sea levels.
The article explores animals with exceptional hearing capabilities, highlighting bats and wax moths for high-frequency detection, barn owls for precise prey localization, dolphins and bats for echolocation, and pinnipeds for hearing both above and below water, emphasizing the diversity and specialization of animal auditory systems.
Fossil brains of early seals, known as pinnipeds, provide evidence of their underwater feeding behavior and the importance of their whiskers (vibrissae) in locating prey. The study analyzed the brain anatomy of fossil and extant carnivorans and found that the reliance on whiskers in modern pinnipeds is an ancestral feature that aided the survival of early seals in marine habitats. This research sheds light on the ecological transition of pinnipeds from terrestrial to amphibious marine species and the adaptations necessary for underwater foraging.